Sunday, June 05, 2011

Super Pat Custom Action Figure

Many years ago I started dabbling into making my own custom action figures. A lot of people (nerds) do it so I thought I'd give it a shot. My first figure was one of my favorite persons: me. After some sculpting and painting, I turned a Mr. Fantastic figure into a spitting image of me. Well maybe not so spitting. It was rough around the edges but I was satisfied enough with it and moved on to making different figures. Eventually I stopped making figures and moved on to other things.

When I pulled Action Pat out of storage for use in the latest episode of Super Pat Quest, I realized just how crummy he was. The joints were loose, the paint was chipping, he couldn't stand up by himself. He got old, just like I did. So I decided to make an update. It wasn't a huge priority or anything, I'd just keep a look out for an opportunity to give Action Pat an upgrade.

Well last week an opportunity presented itself, and I'm proud to reveal the NEW Super Pat Action Figure!!





While walking in a random store I spotted a Tim Hunter action figure with an uncanny likeness to Yours Truly. I thought it would make a perfect head for the new Pat. It even had glasses, which I wear more often nowadays, and it's rare to find an action figure with glasses that isn't Harry Potter. So I popped the head off the figure and put it on Thomas Jane's body. From a Punisher movie figure of course.

Recipe for success... what's with the owl?

Sorry I had to cut your head off, Tom. Anyway under that long black trench coat is basically a guy wearing a t-shirt and pants, so it works as everyday clothing. I sanded down the ammo packs and straps on the legs and repainted everything. I cut pieces off of the trench coat, trimmed it down, and glued a painted rubber band to it to make my trademark jacket. I felt like adding the jacket really made this a Pat figure, not just some nerd in a Punisher t-shirt. I painted over the Punisher symbol though. I haven't worn a Punisher shirt in years.

Yeah I've been working out.

Originally I left the t-shirt black to match the older figure, but I decided to make it gray to add some variety with the black jacket. I didn't paint a thick coat on the pants because I felt the bits of black underneath made it look more like jeans. 

 I've never looked this bad-ass.

I guess I could've kept the original Tim Hunter body because it looks more like my actual posture, but I wanted a more articulated figure. That and the figure couldn't hold stuff with its closed fists.

What about Fifth Column?

 The head sculpt from the Tim Hunter figure was almost too perfect. The hair was similar to mine and the goatee was already there so the only thing I had to do was paint the eyes green. No sculpting needed! 

So will I get back into making custom action figures? Maybe. There are some holes in my Cyclops collection, and if the toy companies won't make them, I guess I have to. Still, I have a lot of things on my plate, including making awesome videos for you guys to enjoy. 

Overall I'm very happy with how Super Pat turned out. Maybe I'll make a Drew figure for him to punch. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the pictures.

The Blue, the Gold, and the..uhh..Pale?

 Who's next?!?